Sarah Palin is a genius. Don’t get me wrong, she’s an idiot, but good God, she’s seriously a genius, too. Somehow, she’s being considered as a Republican presidential candidate, and she’s loving up the United States while President Barack Obama is busy taping guest spots on American Idol.In a world where I feel like women sometimes have to ride the coattails of men to gain some kind of power, Palin, the former Republican governor of Alaska, did it really well. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had to stand by her politically powerful man through betrayal because she had a long-term plan for her career, and she needed Bill to help her get there. Even as she ran for president, a question directed to her was mistranslated as “What does Bill Clinton think about that deal?” rather than Obama and the actual subject. Her husband, not her, got to go to retrieve North Korean hostages.
Bill Clinton forever defaces the Oval Office and everyone smirks and moves on, but Hillary was disliked by Republicans and Democrats alike during the 2008 election for doing what? Being a woman? Or being a woman who dared to wear “frumpy” suits and wink at the camera during political debates?
Anyone who knows me will tell you I’ve adored Palin since I first watched the vice presidential debate and gleefully giggled every time she winked at the camera and flipped her highlighted bangs out of her eyes. I love her misguided comments, her sidestepping the real issues, how she gave her children ridiculous names, how she tries to positively twist having a teen mom for a daughter whose babydaddy posed in PlayGirl. She’s hilarious, and she knows it. It reminds me of Jessica Simpson and her “Chicken of the Sea” debacle from all those years ago — is it stupid? Or cleverly, calculatingly endearing?
In a recent interview with TIME magazine, Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich said “Sarah Palin is tremendously important right now. I mean for maybe 40 percent of the country, she personifies courage, clarity. She’s attractive, she’s articulate, she has energy.” Note: The first thing he says is that she’s attractive. And boy, does she work it.
She’s long moved on from being Sen. John McCain’s (R-Ariz.) gimmick and come into her own. Her autobiography was a bestseller, she provides political commentary for Fox News and she’s soon to have her own TV show. She’s been lampooned by Tina Fey since 2008, showing that she has some staying power, even if only as a figure to be mocked. According to a ABC News article Feb 11, 71 percent of Americans think she’s unsuitable to be president, but she “won’t close that door.” She might run.
Hillary Clinton was right: There is a glass ceiling. But Palin’s using the female disadvantage to her benefit. She was picked by McCain purely because she was a woman, in a weird kind of reverse discrimination, but she’s somehow managed to outlast her 15 minutes of fame using endearing cluelessness. After all, isn’t that what society expects from a woman? She’s winking her way to the top, and we’ll all keep laughing until she somehow ends up president. Hilarious, isn’t it?
Bethany Wynn is a junior French and sociology major. She can be reached at wynn at umdbk dot com.
